A Message from Jay

It seems that politicians are always anxious to talk. Not me. I am not a politician. I am anxious to LISTEN. I believe we were given one mouth and two ears for a reason.

If you are in Colorado House District 37, and vote for me as your representative, know that I will be voting for YOU. If you are not in the district, but support me in becoming a voice in the Legislature, know that I will be voting on YOUR behalf as well.

To do so, I need to hear what you have to say. Please take the time to Tweet me or post on my Facebook page. I want to hear what your issues are, and how you believe we can move forward to a better place in Colorado. Working together, we can do it

A series of long days where I knocked on doors and contacted delegates was culminated by a disappointing vote tally at the Assembly.

The vote count was almost exactly what we calculated it would be, but it seemed that more alternates got to vote than we expected. The total count of people allowed to vote was 180, and that seemed like more than the number of delegates which should be voting.

The bottom line is that I fell below the 30% required to be on the ballot. So, my campaign has come to an early end.

I want to thank all those of you who were so amazing, and who helped carry me to the “almost there” point.

I am going to close down the campaign, and step back for a week of rest. I will bind my wounds, and consider what the Almighty might want me to do next. In the mean time, please keep your heads up, and your spirits high.

Republicans should take the House this fall, and maybe even the Senate. I plan to support one of our candidates for Governor after the State Assembly later this month. Then we are on the road to victory in November.

Thanks again… and I will be seeing you soon on the campaign trail (supporting another one of our great candidates).

Yesterday was another hard day of driving the precincts, and speaking with delegates. We were at it from just after nine until after seven thirty in the evening. After I got home, I took a call from another delegate who had some questions. I had spoken to his wife earlier that day, and he wanted to satisfy himself as well. After a half-hour of questions and answers, he informed me with some zeal that I had his vote as well as his wife’s vote.

The delegates are clearly doing their homework, and are taking this race seriously. They uniformly thank me for putting together the “apples to apples” chart in my last mailer. This makes it easy to compare qualifications across the lines. I am not afraid of comparisons, and in fact I insist on them.

Since the incumbent endorsed the least-qualified and youngest candidate in the field, the conversations with the delegates have been different. I expected that this endorsement would carry considerable weight… but it seems I was wrong. In fact, it seems to be backfiring.

The delegates often tell me that it is clear that this endorsement was an attempt by the “establishment” to bolster the sagging numbers for their candidate. The party bosses might be afraid that their candidate won’t be able to garner the required 30% of the vote on his own, and they need to give him a shove from behind to even get on the ballot. It has been suggested to me by a senior elected official that the party bosses are trying to rig this election so that their candidate won’t have a primary. Well, that plan doesn’t seem to be working all that well for them. The delegates know that I can’t be bought, nor bullied. There are no strings on me that can be pulled by an unseen puppeteer.

My campaign crunched the numbers at the end of our walking tonight. Of course, it could be that the delegates are not telling us the truth, or they might change their minds… but RIGHT NOW, (counting only the delegates willing to unequivocally state their commitment to a candidate), it appears that I have 30% of the vote, and the other candidates have a combined 20%. The rest of the delegates are undecided.

I will meet more delegates tomorrow, and that will be all I can do until the voting begins on Saturday.

As the true grass-roots candidate who is not controlled or financed by outside sources, I might be able to pull-off a surprise on Saturday. I will let you know!

Last night Jay saw for the first time a mailer from an unknown source attacking Jack Tate, one of the people also seeking to take the 37th HD seat.

This morning, Jay stood up in the Arapahoe County Republican Men’s Club and denounced this kind of “attack politics”. Jay asked for information on who the source of the mailer might be. Nobody had any information.

Although Jay has fought hard for a level playing field and a fair consideration for each candidate, it seems that some people with power and money are trying to rig this election and move the pointer toward, or away from, certain candidates.

It doesn’t matter whether the contents are accurate. This is NOT how we Republicans should conduct ourselves. If you have received this flier in the mail, Jay urges you to throw it away. Each candidate should rise or fall on their OWN merit, not due to the influence of others.

Jay was invited to attend a candidate’s forum in El Paso County. Jay protested to the event organizer that he would have no voters in El Paso County, but she insisted that he come. And when sweet “Mother Mary”, as she is affectionately known, insists… Jay can’t resist.

The event was a packed-house, and there were more than twenty candidates from Governor to County Assessor. Each got a chance to speak for three minutes.

Jay determined that since nobody in the room could vote for him, he would encourage people to “vote Republican”.

There was a gentleman there who recorded the various speeches. Here is the link to Jay’s speech.

Yesterday, I got irrefutable proof that I am not the “Establishment Candidate” in this race.

Many have suggested that I might have that status, since I have served in the Republican party for over 25 years as a Precinct Leader, Area Leader, District Captain, and now as Party Vice Chairman.

Those people who made such suggestions didn’t know of my efforts to reform the Republican Party from the inside – to bring it closer to its conservative roots, and to heal divisions within the conservative movement.

I got a call from the incumbent indicating that he had decided to join the party bosses and endorse one of the youngest, most inexperienced people in the race. I believe this was because that candidate was getting very little support from the delegates who will determine this Saturday who will be on the ballot. Maybe the party bosses wanted to give him a push from behind so he could finish ahead of the other candidates.

I see this as a great advantage to my run for this seat. I believe the delegates will see right through this ploy, and he will even lose some votes he otherwise might have had. I don’t think the delegates are open to being so easily manipulated. I think the Republicans of the 37th District are tired of having party bosses chose their candidates for them.

As I walk door-to-door to meet the delegates, I am happy that many come to the door and immediately recognize me. They open the door with an excited “Hi Jay!”. So far, only two delegates were undecided and remained so as I left their door. The remainder professed strong support for my candidacy. Even a delegate which had the yard sign of one of my opponents in her yard apologized for that sign, and told me that another person who lived there allowed it without her knowledge. She told me she was solidly behind me.

I am very encouraged with the conversations I am having. Now, on to the assembly on Saturday.